MPTC earmarks P2.5B for ’13 capex
The country’s leading toll road operator, Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), is shelling out P2.5 billion for capital expenditures for the coming year as it expands its network of highways.
The bulk of this budget, however, was supposed to have been spent this year but was pushed back due to delays in right-of-way acquisition by the government.
“Our target is to start construction by the end of this year,” Ramoncito Fernandez said in an interview this week.
He was referring to the so-called Segment 9 of North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), which would stretch from the NLEx Cloverleaf in Mindanao Ave. to McArthur Highway in Valenzuela. It aims to ease traffic on the congested MacArthur Highway leading to Central and Northern Luzon.
MPTC, through subsidiary Manila North Tollroads Corp. (MNTC), holds the concession for the 84-kilometer NLEx. Segment 9 is part of the existing NLEx concession contract.
“There were delays in the right of way acquisition. There are acquisitions going on right now. We think it will be done by the end of the year,” Fernandez said.
The acquisition of right of way, referring to the expropriation of private lands to make way for government projects, is a responsibility of the government.
“This falls under the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways),” Fernandez said.
“That is their responsibility, but we assist them when they need help,” Fernandez said.
In a disclosure on Wednesday, MPTC said the bulk of its P2.5-billion capex would go to the construction of Segment 9. The rest would be for the upkeep of existing roads.
MPTC’s parent, MPIC, is the local unit of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd. The firm’s investments in the Philippines are overseen by its managing director and co-founder Manuel V. Pangilinan.
Aside from NLEx, MPTC also won the contract to manage the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), which is currently managed by state-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA). MPTC’s contract for the SCTEx is still awaiting Malacañang’s approval.
